New Orleans, LA vs Baton Rouge, LA
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Baton Rouge spends 24.8% more per capita than New Orleans ($10,902/person difference). Baton Rouge, LA has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (B, 75/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Property Tax | $62 | $0 |
| Sales Tax | $327 | $488 |
| Income Tax | $993 | $2,296 |
| Intergovernmental | $3,013 | $949 |
| Charges & Fees | $3,241 | $0 |
| Other | $5,501 | $7,610 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $0 | $1,820 |
| Fire Protection | $1,044 | $1,140 |
| Highways & Roads | $271 | $589 |
| Education | $951 | $0 |
| Public Welfare | $1,197 | $2,691 |
| Health | $507 | $2,058 |
| Hospitals | $5,002 | $4,729 |
| Parks & Recreation | $966 | $758 |
| Housing | $4,479 | $7,045 |
| Sewerage | $161 | $236 |
| Utilities | $4,300 | $2,413 |
| Interest on Debt | $0 | $1,735 |
| General Admin | $1,865 | $4,492 |
| Other | $12,243 | $14,181 |
Compare More Cities
The side-by-side above pulls the the Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances data for both entity A and entity B. What follows is the interpretation — which specific axes carry the most weight for entity A versus entity B, and which differences are large enough to influence a real decision.
Practical use of the comparison: read the data above, then drill into the individual entity A and entity B detail pages for the underlying breakdown. A pairwise comparison answers the relative question; the per-entity pages answer the absolute question.
Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.